milointhewoods's review
4.0
inventive and charming. i like the characters, i really like the concepts and it’s a really nice read with low stakes. honestly i just think it could be longer and some of the relationships could do with more development, as the actual events of this book happen over about two or three days
clarkco's review
4.0
I wonder how accessible this book is to someone who hasn't read Thread that Binds the Bones?
shannny2k's review
3.0
A fine book but with not much content. Honest feels like a Naruto filler arc. Some of Nina's pay books have been brilliant, particularly the magic systems. I'm still willing to read more, I simply hope they have thicker content.
valhecka's review
1.0
OH MY GOD NEITHER OF THEM ARE ACTING LIKE HUMANS and the dialogue is KILLING ME. Whyyy.
end: So every character was exactly the same, just with different names and occasionally a shout-out to their assigned personality trait. A lot of telling and not showing, a lot of crappy dialogue that no one would actually say, a lot of lip service to The College Process, exactly five curse words for that bit of oh-so-careless edge, and entirely too much wiftiness.
All in all, fail. Not sure I want to touch the rest of her stuff now.
end: So every character was exactly the same, just with different names and occasionally a shout-out to their assigned personality trait. A lot of telling and not showing, a lot of crappy dialogue that no one would actually say, a lot of lip service to The College Process, exactly five curse words for that bit of oh-so-careless edge, and entirely too much wiftiness.
All in all, fail. Not sure I want to touch the rest of her stuff now.
shinychick's review
3.0
I vaguely remember reading "A Fistful of Sky" a few years back; I think it was on a friend's wish list. It didn't impact me as much then, or I think it might have been more memorable. This book, I picked up as my free birthday book at Nicola's (which, if you are not in on this deal and you're even semi-local to Ann Arbor - DO IT!!), partially because it sounded good, and partially because nothing else did. It has a good introduction and was a decent story, and stuck with me this time - so I've been looking for more Hoffman books to read, as you'll see.
tmktmktmk's review
2.0
Mehhh. Fine idea, but the dialogue and narration were often stilted and jerky. Characters were one-dimensional and sometimes hard to keep straight from each other (even ones who were supposed to be stereotypes - a pot-smoking, huge football player name Flax?). Another reviewer called the action "oddly compressed" and it's a good description. While the concept wasn't brilliant or anything, I constantly asked myself how this could've sounded or felt if any other writer had written it - total squandered potential. Easy read but wouldn't have read it if I weren't stranded with family and all but bookless.
stephgraves's review
4.0
Set in the same universe as The Thread that Binds the Bones--a book I read as a teenager and fell in love with--this book follows Jamie as she leaves her family and goes off to college. There, her roommate Kim is being preyed upon by a strange force, and Jamie and her family take up Kim's fight.
Overall, it's quite enjoyable; but it really is more of a YA than I expected. I finished it over a twelve hour period, so while enjoyable, you aren't exactly in it for the long haul with this one.
Overall, it's quite enjoyable; but it really is more of a YA than I expected. I finished it over a twelve hour period, so while enjoyable, you aren't exactly in it for the long haul with this one.
constantreaderkmarie's review
4.0
I read this one in a day - it was a nice book to get lost in. Nothing heavy at all here - has that same um, what would you call it? Where everyone protects and loves on one of the main characters, who never asks for the love and protection, but seems to draw it to herself (usually, but not always, a she) - such as that seen in countless Mercedes Lackey novels, the Twilight novels, ect. What else? Nice cover. :)
cindywho's review
4.0
One of the evil Chapel Hollow brats improves and grows up enough to appear in this YA coming of age novel. Kim is an artist with amazing visual perception. After a best friend gone bad experience in high school, she's been suffering a debilitating depression. Getting away to college and meeting Jaimie who can bring in powers that sense that something is attacking Kim is the start of the short novel - perhaps a little predictable and wish-fulfilling, but very enjoyable.
tree_hugger's review
1.0
The books chapters flip back and forth between, Kim and Jamie, the two main characters. Both girls enter college with very different backgrounds. Kim is artistic and has been suffering with depression. Her roommate Jamie is not what she appears to be when she bringing a household god to live in their dorm room. Fortunately for Kim, Jamie realizes that Kim’s depression has unnatural origins. With the aid of some of Jamie’s cousins, who also attend the same college, the new roommates try to investigate the cause of Kim’s depression.
The novel takes place over the first week at college. Hoffman is able to vividly describe Jamie’s magic and Kim’s artistic visions to make the inner lives of the characters come alive. If you like YA urban fantasy novels, you’ll find Spirits that Walk in Shadows intriguing.
The novel takes place over the first week at college. Hoffman is able to vividly describe Jamie’s magic and Kim’s artistic visions to make the inner lives of the characters come alive. If you like YA urban fantasy novels, you’ll find Spirits that Walk in Shadows intriguing.